matgerke Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 (edited) I was inspired by recent posts to visit the canal spoils near Yankeetown, Florida. I did not, unfortunately, find the echinoid riches described by others. However, I did find a muddy, suspicious-looking rock, which, when cleaned, looked like this. Can anyone please help me identify this pretty little coral? Edit: I am told below that this may instead be a burrow cast. Can anyone help to identify it? Edited April 18, 2017 by matgerke Updating burrow cast idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 I would be more inclined to think it's a cast of some sort of burrow. It actually reminds me more of a cast of an ant burrow than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 Ah, an interesting idea! But here's the thing: the matrix around it was not very well consolidated -- little more than muddy sand. After a good soak in water, it loosened up so much that it came completely off with just gentle brushing. The fossil itself is very hard. Is that consistent with a burrow cast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guguita2104 Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Ophiomorpha burrow (made by a calianassid arthropod)? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 could be yet another piddock clam tubes with associated cliona borings the shell they were boring in is gone leaving the traces alone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 2 minutes ago, Plax said: could be yet another piddock clam tubes with associated cliona borings the shell they were boring in is gone leaving the traces alone. Would have been a very thick shell they were boring into. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 3 hours ago, matgerke said: Ah, an interesting idea! But here's the thing: the matrix around it was not very well consolidated -- little more than muddy sand. After a good soak in water, it loosened up so much that it came completely off with just gentle brushing. The fossil itself is very hard. Is that consistent with a burrow cast? Just because the soil is soft muddy sand now does not mean it was that way ages ago. Water channels change course and what is presently a wet area now may not have been so when that thing was formed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 What about some burrowing worm, eating into driftwood? The bore holes are too small for any ants I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 I think @Guguita is probably right that it is a Ophiomorpha burrow look some up and compare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Also, it could be something related to karst features, e.g. speleothems . 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 16 hours ago, ynot said: Would have been a very thick shell they were boring into. yes. Looks to be 2x2 iinches? Am liking Abyssunder's speleothem at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted April 20, 2017 Author Share Posted April 20, 2017 Okay, I've googled lightning strikes, ant burrows, speleothems, and ophiomorpha. Nothing really bears a close resemblance. Is there another way to start filling some of these out? Shouldn't speleothems react to acid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 20, 2017 Share Posted April 20, 2017 1 hour ago, matgerke said: Shouldn't speleothems react to acid? Yes, but some others on the list of possibilities could also be calcite minerals. Can You post pictures of the broken ends of the round parts? I am leaning towards a trace fossil--ie burrow cast. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matgerke Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 There really is no visibly broken end. See photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertramp Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 maybe a chunk of a rhizolith? https://www.google.it/search?q=rhizolits&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij0MXZt7_TAhWiF8AKHcy2COcQ_AUIBygC&biw=1366&bih=638#tbm=isch&q=rhizoliths&imgrc=_ http://ichnology.ku.edu/invertebrate_traces/tfimages/rhizoliths.html ciao 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 Rhizolith ? - not a bad idea, supertramp " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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